3.22.2008

Kent City Ridge Run 15k

OMFG...that both sucked AND blew. It would have been a difficult race under ideal conditions, but yesterday dumped ~6" of icy snow on the area, so all but maybe a mile total of the course was snow and ice...almost entirely on unplowed, hilly backroads. I hurt...and something tells me I'm REALLY gonna hurt tomorrow. But I placed in my age group for the first time ever...3 out of 7 women in the 35-39 AG (94/120 for the full field). Unfortunately we didn't stick around for awards, since my local friend who rode with me was feeling a little ill and wanted to get home. I'm going to e-mail the race director to see if I earned anything--if so I would happily pay her to mail it to me...who knows when I will actually "place" in a race again.

Eryn and I were pretty much side-by-side for the entire race (heh, but I smoked her on the last quarter mile or so...it pays to have that sprinter's kick at the end ;)). We both agree that this is the hardest race course either of us has run. The 25k coming up in May is easier...it has just a few smallish hills and (hopefully) no SNOW/ICE! Gah. We do think we will meet up to run this course during marathon training, though...once the snow is long gone. It would definitely be a good strength workout.

Other than that it was a pretty uneventful race. I really feel that HTFU glow, though. 9.3 miles of gutting it out and living to tell about it. I had hoped to run at least as fast as my HM PR pace (just under 9:30), but there was no way that was going to happen. Without the snow and ice it probably would have been doable, but definitely not today. And I still PRd.

One of the neat things about having a Garmin Forerunner is seeing that I actually ran 9.36 miles...that extra .06 is almost certainly from all the traversing everyone had to do to find the least slippery areas of the course. Having a way to make that elevation profile above is pretty cool, too.

MTA: this was pretty much the first race where I felt NO guilt for walking through water stops... :I

~~~~~

Tonite will almost certainly be an early bedtime, as I didn't fall asleep until around midnight and found myself wide-awake at about 5am. After showering and sitting for a bit I ran to the store to get some Easter stuff, too. Now the muscle aches are starting to set-in. I feel a bit like I've been beaten to a semi-pulp state. Ow.

Well if the weather is like that every year you will have no problem hanging onto that record, I predict!

;)

How did you end up in Finland? I take it you are from West MI originally...?

That course really was beautiful--even under all the snow. I grew up in a hilly area of Wisconsin with lots of orchards, so it was kind of like running back home. I definitely want to do some runs out there when weather is a bit more conducive.

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